Investigators said 46-year-old Gary Felts and 44-year-old Stephen Lee took the antlers on Sunday night while a vendor at the convention centre waited to load a truck. Police said the vendor reported the theft and the men were detained on a pavement outside with the antlers, valued at more than 500,000 US dollars (£303,000).

Felts, of Joppa, Maryland, and Lee, of Cumberland, Maryland, were charged with theft and conspiracy and released on 5,000 dollars (£3,000) bail. Phone listings for both men are disconnected. Police said they work for a Maryland-based expo company.